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welcome back, everyone, to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. i'm amara walker. >> and i'm george howell. here are your world headlines at the half hour. u.s. military aircraft are dropping food and water to civilians in northern iraq. thousands of them. who are trying to escape the militant group isis. this as u.s. military continues with fighter jets and unmanned drones to try to stop the momentum of those advancing isis fighters. also, palestinian authorities say at least five people were killed by israeli air strikes in gaza friday. they came after israeli and palestinian delegations failed to reach an agreement on extending a three-day cease-fire. israel says two people were wounded by dozens of rockets fired into its territory. the world health organization has declared an

international health emergency over the ebola outbreak in west africa. the virus has killed now over 960 people. health officials are calling for a coordinated international response to try to stop the virus. now, isis militants have captured control of the critical mosul hydroelectric dam. now, this map shows a significant number of areas that the group now controls in iraq's north and in syria. >> as brian todd now reports, these terrorist armies are more disciplined on the battlefield than ever before. and a warning. some of the images you'll see may be disturbing. >> reporter: they're ferocious and relentless, capturing huge swaths of territory at a time. isis is unlike any other terror group on the battlefield. >> this is not your father's al qaeda. >> reporter: the old militant tactics, hit-and-runs, ambushes, roadside bombs. when other terrorist groups went to ballot against well-trained armies, they were often wiped out. iraq combat veteran douglas

olivant says isis is much more disciplined than militant forces of the past-w good unit commanders, better tactics. >> but for the black flags, this could be a platoon of american army soldiers or marines circa 2004 or 2005. again, moving in formation, soldiers throughout the column. we can see the weapons, the machine guns in the vehicles that they can use to establish a base of fire. >> reporter: training is a big difference with isis, analysts say. they're getting help with that from outside. >> they also now have been bolstered by a significant number of chechen fighters who have joined their ranks. also foreign fighters from across the arab world, some with significant experience in urban warfare. >> what also makes isis dangerous on the battlefield, the way they get the most from their arsenal. >> some of it is more primitive like this tank. but perversely the more primitive the equipment they capture the more likely they're going to be able to use it to

maintain it. simpler is better in their case. mobile artillery pieces, other pieces, captured armored vehicles. >> reporter: experts say while the new tactics, training, and weapons have been indispensable to isis onts battlefield and a crucial reason why they've captured so much more territory since june, there's another weapon they use, a psychological one, that's also been very effective. a warning. you're about to see some disturbing video. isis units often win before they get to the battlefield because of this. horrific propaganda videos show isis militants summarily executing captured opponents, shooting them in ditches. displaying the severed heads of their enemies on poles in the middle of city circles. when it comes . >> when it comes to isis it's not about what they're capable of but what people fear they're capable of which gives them this advantage. and they've had a very deliberate strategy of terrorizing the iraqi military. >> reporter: experts say iraqi soldiers who've seen these

videos often quit and run before the battle starts. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> yeah. just horrific images there. and with more now we are joined with rami chouri, the director at the isam faras institute for public policy and international affairs at the american university of beirut. he also won an international peace award for his efforts in the middle east. he joins us live now from beirut. rami khouri it is great to have you on. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> let's first talk about the u.s. military launching another round of air strikes there against isis in iraq. how effective do you think these air strikes will be on reversing or stopping isis's advance? >> well, in the short term in very localized areas they will of course be effective. but there's a group of 20 or 30 pickup trucks or small open military vehicles marching in the northern des oert or northern plains of iraq of

course they can be hit from the area and they can be stopped. so air power can be effective in a very local way in a very short period of time for a particular practical purpose. but long term, air power is not going to stop isis from carrying out its goals. there needs to be a concerted military campaign against them by people on the ground, which is the iraqi army, the kurdish army, the turkish army. probably iranians and other arabs. local armies and local people have to basically push these people back. but the air power is a short-term assistance. it stops the danger to the refugees who are fleeing, and it sends a message to isis that people are going to start fighting back against them. >> i want to talk more about america's involvement right now in iraq. but before we do that, because those images that we saw in that report are just mohorrifying an you can see the brutal tactics isis has been using in terrorizing this part of the middle east. i mean, how powerful and well

equipped is isis? i mean, how concerned should the international community be? >> they're pretty well equipped, and they're pretty powerful in a very localized way. this is a group that -- and there's other groups like this in the region. these guys have very little if any local anchorage. they can only control pieces of land that have been made available because of the chaos and the ungovernability of the local situation, the incompetence or the violence of the iraqi government or the syrian government and the fighting allows them to go into a certain area, and they can only control it by the tactics that you showed in your clip. there's very, very few people in the middle east who welcome the rule of isis or jepet de jepet del nusra or al qaeda or dozens of other smaller groups like this. so these guys are -- these guys are not anchored in the

societies but they control land and they control military resources in many cases they captured former american munitions and equipment from iraq. and they're a real problem in the short term. the thing about them, though, is that really there has not been a concerted pushback against them. the local countries in a bizarre puzzling way, the local powers, the arabs, the turks, the iranians, the others, have not yet really confronted them militarily and certainly have not confronted them in their biggest vulnerability, which is to provide the people of these countries with good governance and decent life, which would completely eliminate the possibility of these kinds of groups ever taking root. but what we're seeing now is the beginning of this process. we saw a little in lebanon the other day where lebanese pushed back against some of these isis offshoots. we saw it in iraq, and we're seeing it in parts of northern syria, where local groups, sunnis, mostly are pushing back

against some of these isis type groups. so the signs are emerging now, and of course with the american strikes and probably the iranians will get involved and maybe the turks and jordanians. we'll see. we're starting to see the initial signs of organized military action. but in the long run there has to be a political resolution to the chaos that aouz these kinds of groups to flourish. >> yeah, as we heard many times, a political solution goes hand in hand with the violence there on the ground. rami khouri, appreciate your perspective on this very complex and frightening situation. thank you so much. >> it is interesting because it's been said that isis can advance. but can they sustain where they are in certainly they are terrorizing people. >> and that is a big question. can they sustain it now with the u.s. getting involved? we'll just have to wait and see. >> right. the news continues here on cnn. and it is a story that shows the grief, and it's showing how it's gripping every corner in gaza.

how one family is remembering their son. >> and just miles away an israeli family does the same. two reports from both sides of the devastating crisis in the middle east.

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and returning now to the conflict in gaza, a three-day cease-fire has ended and bombings, well, they've begun

again. palestinian authorities say at least five people were killed in israeli air strikes friday. and that puts the overall death toll in gaza at just under 1,900. >> israel says a soldier and a civilian were wounded by rockets fired into its territory friday from gaza. overall, israeli officials say 64 troops and three civilians have perished in the conflict. >> now, indirect talks in cairo failed to produce an agreement between the two sides, with one palestinian negotiator conceding significant differences remain between the delegations. and as a result the three-day cease-fire ended early friday. cnn's anderson cooper spoke with both palestinian and israeli senior officials. >> you have to understand the situation on the ground is very difficult. i'm not trying to justify anything. i want rockets not to be fired. i want israel to stop bombarding gaza because i think today six palestinians were killed between the west bank and gaza today.

and that's not the point. the point here is that the balance is between extending the cease-fire and not allowing israel to use the medical supplies, food supplies, water, electricity as instruments in its hands to pressure us in the negotiations. >> it's clear that these negotiations, if they ever resume, will have to be done in discretion. but the fundamental equation is clear. they end violence. no more rockets on israel. no more attacks from gaza, whether through the sea or by those terror tunnels. a total cessation of all hostile activity from gaza against israel. and in return israel can ease restrictions because if they are no longer hostile we can have a more normal relationship. >> it is a devastating situation. families on both sides of the border are burying loved ones whose lives have been cut short.

our karl penhaul spoke to the parents of a hamas fighter killed in battle two weeks ago. and as you'll see, they are very proud of their son's actions but grieving as any parent would. >> reporter: mumbled prayers. hum of drones. cement block for a tombstone. sandy hole for a grave. final resting place for a gaza gunman. >> translator: i am proud i have a son who was part of a resistance. we too will resist. we do not love fighting a war, but this is about defending ourselves from injustice. >> reporter: his 25-year-old son parik al azhramai was a fighter in the al qassam brigades,

hamas's military wing. he joined up two years ago. his parents say his son's comrades told them he was blown up by an attack helicopter as he battled israeli infantry in northern gaza july the 20th. >> translator: my last words to him were may god be kind to you and make it easy. good-bye with all my heart. may you be an inferno for your enemy. >> reporter: his mother says she even offered to carry her son's weapons to the front line so that he could move undetected by israeli drones. he refused. his father tells me how his son was good at history, great at swimming. >> translator: no matter how much i've described, i cannot do him justice. he was a blessing to me. he combined the best qualities of a man. honest, nice, chivalrous, and generous.

>> reporter: so how then did he end up with a kalashnikov in his hand? perhaps because his father kept telling him tales of life on the run. running from their home in beer sheba just after israel was founded in 1948. running to gaza at the outbreak of the six-day war in 1967. >> translator: all the lives of palestinian people are a tragedy. it is not just one tragedy but so many tragedies and catastrophes and wars. >> reporter: the european union, israel, and the u.s. list hamas as a terrorist organization. yet in gaza militants are revered as heroes on billboards and in street art. gaza is densely built up, and hamas made the tactical choice to wage an urban guerrilla-style war from within the civilian population. israel offered gun camera images

like these as evidence hamas and other factions are using civilians as human shields and digging in around homes and schools. and this war could suck in the next generation too. but he believes there may still be talking room. before the first intefadeh he ran a supermarket in tel aviv and says he discussed politics as he drank coffee with israeli workmates. >> translator: we as palestinian muslims and they as jewish people understand each other and understand the truth. but damn the israeli leadership. they do not want what is good for their people. >> reporter: his wife has a message for israeli mothers. no reconciliation but recognition they share a bond. >> translator: they are like us.

they raise their sons. and just like their sons are valuable to them, our sons are valuable to us. just like they are mothers, we are mothers too. just like they feel, we feel too. >> reporter: and as a mother and father whispered good-byes to their child turned militant, someone else's son headed to an early grave. karl penhaul, cnn, gaza. >> and on the israeli side a similar picture. young people taking to the front lines and their innocence lost. attica shubert spoke to the parents of an idf soldier killed last month. and here's what they had to say. >> reporter: hundreds attended the funeral of sergeant ben yitzchak vanunu. as his coffin arrived for bur l burial, a chorus of wails and sobbing.

but when i meet his parents, sar-it and ilan, they don't cry. they show me bar mitzvah pictures. they tell me he was determined to join the golani brigade, israel's hardened elite infantry unit. and they show me this photo taken weeks before he was killed in an ambush in gaza. i ask if they were scared before he went in. his father is adamant. but his mother fights back tears. she says, "he told us don't be afraid. he knew what he was going there for, and he made that choice." he said there is no reason for people to run when they hear sirens, this has to end now. theirs is a proud military family. their son's commanding officer watches over them as they talk. but it is also a devout family, with religious portraits on the walls. "the jewish people are a moral

people," ilan says. "the people on the other side, they are the ones without morals." sarit and ilan receive mourners at their home in ashdod, a small beach town a short drive from gaza. members of their son's unit come to offer their condolences. as do the local rabbis. i ask both parents if they could ever imagine the possibility of peace, a day they might even talk with the family of a fighter in gaza. but ilan is quick to interrupt. "peace? who are you going to make peace with? hamas? we gave gaza back to them ten years ago, and who sits there now? not good people p not good palestinians," he says. the family is prepared for a long battle ahead. "i have a girl and two more boys," sarit says to me, "and the boys will follow their brother. they will go into battle and fight just like their brother."

strong words. but still a mother's grief. her son's final steps in gaza are those perhaps she hopes her other children will not have to follow. atika shubert, cnn, ashdod. s a y for over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, we're not just insuring our lives... we're helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow.

just listening in there to the raging waters created by heavy rains in hawaii, as tropical storm iselle lashes the

island chain on friday. the heavy rains caused the river there to flood its banks. iselle's top winds weaken to below hurricane strength as it made landfall. let's get the very latest on iselle and a second hurricane that is threatening the islands. meteorologist ivan cabrera is here live. ivan? >> impressive pictures there. and as we talked about yesterday, the big threat with iselle was going to be the rainfall. and with a 14,000 peak mountains there coming down the mountains, there's going to be a problem. the latest on iselle. can you find it on this map? i will give you a penny if you can find it. but look at this. it's completely almost dissipating here. i'll show you the visible perspective, and you'll be able to see where we have iselle. there she is right there. completely exposed. so this thing is now by the boards here, just bringing us some leftover showers to honolulu. so good-bye iselle. it did cause significant flooding. look at some of the rainfall tallies. between 92 in hilo. 187.

and 369 millimeters. that's almost 15 inches of rainfall. let's take you to what they're dealing with in hawaii right now. the cleanup that continues there under way with trees toppled down. and we have a lot of residents that are going to be doing just that, chainsaws are buzzing on the islands as a result of iselle. now, of course the worry was that my goodness, this was going to be a short-lived break because we have julio, hurricane julio that was going to be on the way. here's julio behind me. we don't have to worry about julio. 160-kilometer per-hour winds. it is going to go north of the island chain. pretty confident on that. in fact, the island's not even in the cone here. the worst that will happen with julio, we'll get some surf and we'll also because of the counterclockwise flow we'll get a little surge of moisture from the south and west and that will bring us some additional rainfall unfortunately to the big island of hawaii. here are the storms that have hit hawaii. only 12 named storms have come but near the islands one tropical storm now making landfall in the big island.

it did weaken from hurricane status. so that is certainly good news there for hilo. guys. >> a lot of rain for a lot of people out there. >> indeed. >> thank you so much. that does it for this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell. >> and i'm amara walker. hopefully you're not sick of us because our special coverage will continue for two more hours after the break. >> good times. and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain. this is humira helping me lay the groundwork. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to r.a. symptoms. humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage in many adults. [ male announcer ] humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis.

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